I would have sworn one of the actresses in this was very familiar to me but
I hadn't seen her name in the opening credits. That as it turned out was
because she was going by the name Martha MacVicker then. By her next film
The Big Sleep she was going by Martha Vickers, Carmen Sternwood - as soft
as a buttered scone but with a razor blade inside it. She never made a lot
of films but The Big Sleep and a couple of other tough edged roles have given
her a bit of fame among noir fans. Like most of the actresses in Hollywood
at the time, she was married to Mickey Rooney for a short period of time.
The film opens with the Falcon (Tom Lawrence) promising his girl that his
detective days are over and he will never look at another woman. Ten minutes
later he is on the run from the police for a murder. Big soft-hearted Lawrence
helps a senorita (Cecilia Callejo) break into a gallery to get a portrait
painted of her back. Of course, there is a dead body on the floor. Isn't
there always. The cops come, the girl vanishes and he is on the hook.
Lawrence locates the daughter (Vickers) of the man who painted the portrait
- but he died years ago and the girl in the painting was quite young then.
They have to go to Mexico to figure out what is going on. It is confusing
and I am not sure I ever got it. The script gets all tangled in its own feet
with a plot that makes little sense and has the Falcon running in circles.
Vickers plays good here which is a shame. Best part is the Mexican locations
- at least some of it definitely was but always hard to be sure. One reviewer
says it is footage from Orson Welles unfinished' It's All True. No idea if
this is true. This being Mexico there are of course a few musical numbers
and a festival.
